"The attack, which started on April 26, initially targeted the website of RFE/RL's Belarus Service, but quickly spread to other sites," a statement on its website said.

"Within hours, eight RFE/RL websites (Belarus, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Tatar-Bashkir, Radio Farda, South Slavic, Russian, and Tajik) were knocked out or otherwise affected," it added.

Belarus Service Director Alexander Lukashuk said that the problems began on the 22nd anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.

"Dictators are still trying to prevent... unfiltered news," said company president Jeff Gedmin. "They did not succeed in the last century and they will not succeed now."

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is an independent, international news and broadcast organization whose programming -- radio, Internet and television -- reaches audiences in 21 countries including Russia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the republics of Central Asia.

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